Attack on Titan: The Spartan Assault
by JoshMaxii
Summary: Humanity has been under siege for over 107 years by an unrelenting force of man eating giants known as Titans. In that time, humanity has not gained a single victory in this one sided war. But just when things are at their bleakest, help arrives from the stars in the form of the UNSC super-soldier Master Chief Spartan Petty Officer John-117. Let the carnage begin!
1. Prologue: The Dream

The Dream

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Wall Mariam, Shiganshina - Year 845

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_Eren was falling, falling through a pale dawn sky striped by pink and purple clouds. The wind roared in his ears, carrying whispers of terror and screams agony. Long, crackling tendrils of lightning shattered the sky, and Mikasa's face flashed before his eyes, her features bloodied and her eyes closed. Eren's bright, emerald green eyes widened as he reached out for her, only for her face to disappear in a blindingly bright flash of white light that burned his eyes. "Mikasa!" He would cry out, distraught as the light faded and the soft, orange sky was replaced by one of burning blue fire. Amidst the swirling chaos he heard his mother scream, and looked about wildly, seeing nothing in the fire.  
Somewhere in the distance he heard cannon fire booming and stones crumbling as he let out a solemn cry for help, a single tear running down the side of his cheek._

_ Out of the depths of the searing blue flames a massive, armored figure appeared and strode forward through the heat, seizing ahold of Eren's hand, arresting his fall as the startled boy gazed up into the figure's face. Only a bright, polished gold surface greeted his eyes reflecting his face back at him, framed by drab, olive green all around in a strange looking helmet. The figure held Eren's gaze for a moment before calling out to him in a deep, gravelly voice that echoed all around him as he found himself becoming consumed by the blue fire surrounding them._

"_Eren…Eren…"_

"**Eren!"** came Mikasa's sharp cry, slicing through the shroud of his mind and bringing Eren back into reality. The young boy's eyes widened for a moment as he regarded her standing over him, her long black hair swaying in the wind beneath the whispering branches of the oak tree he was laying against. Eren sat up, brushing his own charcoal black hair out of his eyes as he stared blankly at his best friend. "Wh-wha?" He began as Mikasa smiled slightly, something she seldom did. "Come on, we need to get back, it'll be dusk soon." She said, bending down to offer Eren her hand. He blinked a few times, as if dazed as he tried to recall his dream. A question formed on his lips as he gazed up at Mikasa. "Hey…Do you ever wonder what's up there Mikasa?" He asked, wiping drool from the corner of his mouth. The oriental girl blinked once before affixing him with her ever present neutral visage. "You must have slept well if you can ask that sort of question. What do you mean by 'up there?'" She would ask, taking a seat beside her friend for a moment. 

"I meant the stars Mikasa…"

"It's the sky Eren, the clouds, sun, moon, and stars are all that's up there."

"I mean, what if there's someone up there wondering what it's like down here?"

"Like some sort of god? I don't know, I've never really thought about it"

"Maybe, maybe not…I don't know at the moment, I'm just trying to piece my thoughts together."

"Do you think we'll ever meet them of they exist?"

"I hope so, don't you?" 

Mikasa shook her head before looking to the sky. "What did you dream about Eren? Why would you ask such a question?" She would ask, turning to face him. Eren blinked. "I can't really remember, but it felt like a long dream." Mikasa's eyebrows raised slightly at that. "Are you okay Eren?" she would ask, starring into his emerald eyes with her steely blue ones. Eren would blink again, confused. "Huh?" Mikasa stood a bit straighter, shifting her weight onto her other foot. 

"**Why are you crying?"**

* * *

Unbeknownst to the two children on the planet below, Eren's question as had already been answered. The vast expanse of space held many secrets far beyond the capability of the humans inhabited this primitive world. Astronomy was a fledgling science at best, but even the most well educated individual would be unable to conceive of the force that was about to arrive. The cold darkness of space was rent by a bright flash of blue light as a massive wormhole tore through the vacuum, regurgitating the remains of a derelict warship, it's titanium hull scarred by plasma scoring as bits of debris floated about it, drawn to its gravity. The aft portion of the ship was all that remained, split from the bow right down the middle, its edges still glowing in the aftermath of the disaster. The portal soon collapsed behind it, leaving the dead vessel caught in the planet's gravity well.

Within the bowels of the aft section, the greatest weapon slipped into peaceful slumber, ready to awaken at a moment's notice. It would take four and a half years, but eventually the soldier sleeping in his icy pod would be able answer Eren's question personally, and give humanity a fighting chance against the greatest threat that they have ever known; The Titans.


	2. Chapter 1: Awakening

**Author's notes:**

**This part of the story takes place a day before the first battle of Trost, thus before Eren joins the Scouting Legion. I plan on writing a chapter every few days that will probably be as long or shorter than this one. However I pose a question to my readers;**

**Would you rather I post short chapters every few days, or longer chapters every week to week and a half? PM me to tell me what you think.**

**And now, without further ado, onto the story!**

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Awakening

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2557 AD - Four years after the Halo Event

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Deep within the uncharted regions of space, floating amidst a field of asteroids and debris, lay the battle scarred aft section of the UNSC heavy frigate, _Forward unto Dawn._ The dead warship had been split in two after a slipspace rupture, leaving the greatest hero in the history of mankind, a different mankind, stranded in deep space with no hope of returning home on his own. Known to the embattled human forces that fought for the very survival of their species as the Master Chief, John-117 of the SPARTAN-II program was at the tip of the spear in every major ground offensive in the waning months of the Human-Covenant war. It was he who found installation 04 or Halo, part of an array of weapon systems that were capable of wiping the galaxy clean of all life and an artifact of utmost religious significance to the members of the fanatical Covenant. To fire the Halos was to embark upon the Great Journey; the belief that the Covenant held that would allow them to become gods. After many days of harsh fighting, the Master Chief destroyed the Halo ring, shaking the Covenant to its very core after setting off a wildcat destabilization of the _Pillar of Autumn's_ engines and escaped unharmed back to Earth.

In the ensuing months, he fought in the Battle of Earth upon Cairo Station, and in the streets of New Mombasa, assassinated the Prophet of Regret on Delta Halo, assaulted High Charity, the Covenant's massive floating Citadel city, and followed the Prophet of Truth, the last remaining religious leader of the Covenant, through a portal back to Earth. There, he fought in the jungles of Africa after falling several miles through the atmosphere and fought his way through swarms of Covenant alongside the Arbiter, a Sangheili or Elite, to the town of Voi. It was there that he assisted UNSC and Separatist forces that had split from the Covenant in wiping out a flood infestation, and eventually lead to the unlikely allies following Truth through a portal to Installation 00, or the Ark. It was here that Truth planned to fire the Halo rings, and embark upon the Great Journey. He was only stopped when in a final, desperate act, the flood allied itself with the Master Chief and the Arbiter. In the ensuing conflict, Truth was struck down by the Arbiter, and the crisis was averted by the Master Chief, who stopped the firing sequence.

After the flood turned on the two allies, Spartan-117 boarded High Charity for the second time, only to find out that it was the home of the Gravemind, the leader of the flood. Fighting through the former Covenant Citadel, the Chief retrieved his lost AI companion, Cortana from the Gravemind's grasp, and escaped High Charity as it self-destructed with the Arbiter's assistance. Upon discovering that a replacement for installation 04 was being built by the Ark, The Chief and the Arbiter battled their way to the control room, and in the activated the incomplete Halo ring after a prolonged fight with 343 Guilty Sparks, a rampant Forerunner AI. Escaping the destruction of the ark in the _Forward unto Dawn_, the Master Chief and Cortana were tragically left stranded in space after a malfunction in the _Dawn's_ slipspace drive, sheering the ship in half and teleporting the aft section into the unknown reaches of space.

Knowing that help wouldn't be arriving anytime soon, John-117 entered cryosleep to conserve energy as Cortana looked on, reminiscing over his parting words. "_Wake me, when you need me."_ It has been four years since then, four long years. To an AI, four years is an impossibly long time to be alone with nothing but your thoughts and a frozen genetically augmented super-soldier for company. For Cortana, the experience was even worse due to her past trauma at the hands of the Gravemind. Without a given task, Cortana could only think, and think, and think. She pondered the fall of the Forerunners, the flood, the nature of the Human-Covenant War, and most of all, her relationship with John in her morbidly short life. He had been with her since the very beginning of her life, he was the only thing that kept her going, and gods be damned if anyone or anything tried to lay so much as a finger on him on her watch. He was her friend…her _only_ friend in this dark, cruel world. The day that he had been forced to leave her behind in High Charity was the blackest day in her life, but the things that she felt when he fought through hell inside the infested ship just to keep his promise to retrieve her went beyond words. To others she was just a hyper advanced computer program, but to John, she was a person, and he treated her like a human being worthy of respect, and the only person left alive deserving enough to call him by his real name.

* * *

Cortana glowed with a soft blue light, bathing the dark, airless cryobay with her shimmering radiance. It was from here that she stood vigilant over the Master Chief whilst he was embraced in icy slumber during those four long years, alone. But now, after all this time, something was wrong. Cortana felt it deep in her data streams as her distress call blared over the _Dawn's_ com systems.

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday- This is FFG201 _Forward Unto Dawn_ requesting immediate evac- Survivors aboard, Prioritization code; Victor Zero Five dash Three dash Sierra One One Seven"

A split second later a high intensity scan in the form of a bright orange wall of crackling light raked what remained of the _Forward unto Dawn's_ aft section, scrambling some of the still active electronics in the bay. She took a moment to analyze the signature as it passed, but was unable to pull anything from it. Fearing the worse, she altered her shimmering little blue ball of light into her human form. She was fairly attractive with short, dark blue hair hanging down ever so slightly into her vibrant blue eyes as she brought up the ship's systems. Shifting through the commands she brought up the manual interface for the cryobay before bringing up the pod that currently contained the Chief. Taking a deep breath, she activated the thawing process before turning around to watch the Spartan's pod defrost.

"Wake up Chief…I need you."

The Master Chief slowly came to life before Cortana's virtual eyes, groaning softly as he shifted about. "Chief, take it easy! You've been out for a while!" Cortana cautioned, trying to reach her friend through his inevitable bout of disorientation. For a brief second, the Master Chief panicked, lurching forward to make contact with the acrylic housing of the cryo pod before pulling back. "Where are we?" He would ask in his low, gravelly voice. "We're still adrift aboard the _Dawn_" Cortana replied, seemingly relieved to finally speak to someone other than herself for the first time in over 4 years. "Why did you wake me?" Cortana's form flickered for a second before she answered. "Hang on, bringing your armor's systems back online." The Master Chief nodded as his Head's Up Display or HUD activated in his visor. He shifted about for a moment before Cortana's voice chirped in again. "Just so you know I rewrote your suit's firmware while you were out." The Chief grunted, nodding once again towards his companion. "You've been busy" He said shortly in his usual manner. Cortana smiled inwardly. It was good to finally speak with him again, even if John wasn't much of a conversationalist.

After giving the Chief a moment to adjust to the new upgrades, she instructed him to pull the manual release to exit the cryo pod, sending shards of ice spiraling off into the air where they hung suspended in the zero gravity. The Master Chief pushed himself away from the pod, allowing himself to float over to Cortana's holotank. She flashed a cocky grin at him "Seems like old times." The Chief might have smiled, but it was impossible for her to tell underneath the opaque golden visor of the green helmet he wore. "Ready to get back to work?" He replied, reaching for her AI chip. Cortana crossed her arms as her grin widened. "I thought you'd never ask!" She said somewhat teasingly as the Chief yanked her from the holotank and inserted her into the back of his helmet. Cortana's cool, liquid presence filled his mind as Cortana merged with the MJOLNIR armor's systems which acted as an AI core. "Ah, I missed this, did you know that?" She asked as she settled into the suit with a relieved sigh.

The Chief pushed himself away from the now inactive holotank and floated back to his cryopod, where he pulled his MA5C assault rifle from the side weapon rack. After checking the weapon over for defects, he pulled back the charging handle, and released it, cycling a round into the chamber before holstering the weapon on his back, where it magnetized solidly and wouldn't budge. "Alright, let's mo-" He began, only to cut himself short when a small, metal object collided with the side of his helmet. He snatched it out of the air, instantly recognizing the small metal bar as a deactivated Type-1 Energy weapon, or Energy sword. "This looks like the Arbiter's, he probably dropped it here on his way to the bridge" The Chief said, giving the handle a once over, turning it about in the zero gravity before attaching it to his right thigh. "His loss is our gain." Cortana chirped in as the chief began floating towards the open hallway.

Traveling in zero G had always been somewhat uncomfortable for the Master Chief, especially after the loss of Spartan James-005 during the battle of Reach. James' T-PACK had been hit by Covenant munitions and detonated, propelling his unfortunate comrade into the depths of space, never to be seen again. "Cortana, why aren't the Gravity generators online?" He asked gruffly, annoyed with his inability to walk on solid ground. Cortana frowned. "I haven't been able to repair them, the generators themselves were damaged when the portal collapsed. Give me a moment, activating your Mag Boots" She said, and half a second later the Chief felt his feet magnetize to the steel grating. "Thanks." He said, checking over his MA5C one final time before proceeding down the hallway.

"How long was I out?" the Chief asked as he came across an orange, holographic representation of what remained of the _Forward Unto Dawn_'s outer hull. "Four years, seven months and ten days" Cortana replied after checking her internal clock. "Somebody should have found us by now." The Chief said gruffly, rounding the corner and proceeding down the hall. "About that, I've be-" Cortana began, only to be cut off as another wall of orange light tore through the ships corridors. The Master Chief dove into cover behind a holotank, assault rifle at the ready as the orange light washed over him. "What was that?" He grunted as it passed down the other end of the hall. "Sensor scan, high intensity! It doesn't match any known patterns!" Cortana shouted as the entire ship shook violently under the scan. The rumbling soon subsided, and the Chief slowly stood up. "We need to figure out what's scanning us. Cortana, set a waypoint to the observation deck, we should be able to get a visual from there." A bright, blue diamond lit up on the Master Chief's HUD, and he proceeded further into the dark, twisting corridors of the ship.

* * *

Trost, Year 850- almost 5 years since the fall of Wall Maria

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It was a calm, peaceful day behind the mighty Wall Rose. The sun shone warmly in the early morning sky, its radiant beams lighting the land below. The town of Trost was just beginning to wake up as a cool, spring breeze swept through the town. The echoing of clopping hooves slowly became louder and louder as a precession of horsemen clad in green cloaks bearing the Wings of Freedom passed through the cobble stone central street. Townspeople began opening their windows and somberly watched the riders of the Scouting Legion pass on by as they made their way towards the far gate. Some of the riders upon their chocolate brown steeds bore a grim, determined look on their faces, their eyes cold as ice as they simply gazed on ahead as if envisioning their goal. Others looked like train wrecks, their hair disheveled and their eyes wide and staring as they would glance nervously about. The lead man in the formation came to a stop a few hundred yards before the gate, raising his hand to signal the others and the entire column came to a grinding halt.

"Something's not right here…" Erwin Smith; A tall, blonde man and the current commander of the Scouting Legion said, looking over to his right hand man, Captain Levi. The black-haired Captain looked unconcerned, but his eyes told a different story as he nodded and glanced skyward. Suddenly the earth began to shake violently, the ground rumbling beneath the hooves of the horsemen as the sky was suddenly split by a beam of vibrant, orange light that blasted away the clouds with a terrible screech. The sky itself tore open, revealing the black expanse of the heavens as a massive, gaping hole amongst the grounds. Erwin's eye's widened as the light suddenly vanished and the sky slowly returned to normal. Raising a hand, he snapped it forward issuing the order to advance as every man and woman in the scouting legion set their horses to full gallop towards the now opening gate.

Erwin turned to Hanji Zoe, a tall, brown-haired woman with large glasses. She was practically shivering in anticipation, her mind working feverishly as she attempted to discern the origin and consequences of the sky sundering beam. "This could change everything, everything!" She said, blushing strangely as she cupped the sides of her face. "What do you think it was?" Erwin asked, his face as unreadable as ever. Zoe clapped her hands like an eager child. "I don't know, but I'll do whatever it takes to find out!" Erwin nodded and spurred his horse onward, directing the rest of the legion to spread out into the Long-Range scouting formation. Levi checked his horse into place beside Zoe's patting her on the head once. "I know that look, don't get yourself killed…" he said nonchalantly in his ever cold manner as Zoe looked at him with her excited grin. "Be sure to watch your back Captain!" She giggled before moving to take her place in the formation as the entire force ran full speed towards where the light had appeared, set on an inevitable collision course that would change the world of mankind forever.

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**Thanks for all your support so far guys, I was unsure what sort of reaction I would receive upon posting the first Attack on Titan/Halo crossover. You're the reason why I post this story instead of keeping it stashed away on a flash drive. I hope that you'll continue to enjoy my ideas in the coming days. Until next time!**


	3. Chapter 2: Landfall

**Alright, new chapter! Sorry I didn't get it out sooner, I had a lot of housework and family visits this weekend. I struggled with this part, but hopefully the chapters to follow will be easier for me to cope with. **

**Author's note: _This denotes speech in a language that the characters from AoT don't understand_**

**Enjoy!**

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**Landfall**

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**_UNSC Forward Unto Dawn_, Uncharted space - 2557 A.D.**

* * *

The Master Chief continued down the hallway, his heavy footsteps echoing in the bowels of the derelict _Forward Unto Dawn_. As he reached the end of the dark passage, he came across a massive, sealed elevator door. "This door looks sealed tight…" He said, adopting a solid stance as he attempted to pry it open with his bare hands. "Chief, be careful!" Cortana chirped as the door opened, sucking all the air out of the hallway as the area depressurized. A trio of crates came hurtling towards the Chief, smashing against him and propelling him into the empty elevator shaft. "Because some areas of the ship may have lost pressure…" Cortana continued a bit too late with her warning. The Master Chief clung to the wall of the shaft, grunting in reply. "Right"

He climbed upwards, hand over hand, the handholds groaning in protest. Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling from above as a chunk of debris came hurtling towards the Spartan. "Chief, look out!" Cortana cried out as the Master Chief leapt out of the way, latching onto another part of the wall. "I didn't think that the ship had deteriorated so badly." Cortana said as the Master Chief continued climbing, periodically dodging falling debris until he reached the top. Hoisting himself up through the open doorway at the top of the shaft, the Master Chief quickly proceeded down the hallway and into the Observation deck. He snatched up a couple of M9 HE-MP fragmentation grenades floating around in the zero gravity, presumably having fallen from the over turned weapons crate near the door way. The Observation deck was littered with similar crates as the Spartan made his way towards the catwalk overlooking the entire room.

"Chief, look! There's the blast shield controls." Cortana chirped, lighting up a waypoint of the Chief's HUD. The Master Chief approached the console, which stood perched at the end of the catwalk. He reached out, pressing the override icon. The deck shook as the titanium armor covering the thick windows slid upwards, revealing the black expanse of space before them…and something else. "Okay, that's not what I was expecting…" Cortana said, eyeing the giant, metal planet that the _Dawn_ had been orbiting for the past 4 and a-half years. Suddenly a loud, shrill screech filled the air as a beam of vibrant, orange light pierced the thick glass separating the Master Chief from the cold depths of space, shrouding him in light. Cortana shuddered, her neural net working feverishly to pull anything that she could from the beam. "Analyzing…Chief, the planet itself is scanning us!" Cortana cried out, alarmed "Forerunner signatures confirmed!" In that moment, the surface of the planet fractured, opening in an aperture pattern. The opening glowed as the ship began to drift towards it, shifting and causing the crates to collide with the glass, chipping and even fracturing it in some places.

"Chief, the planet is pulling us into the surface with its gravity well! We need to get off of the _Dawn _ASAP,the second we cross the dome's event horizon the atmosphere will tear us apart!" Cortana shouted as John jumped into action, turning around to head back the way he came. "Where are the nearest escape pods?" The Chief asked as she ship shuddered, nearly throwing the Spartan off of his feet. "Aft vehical bay! Lighting up the nearest air lo-CHIEF!" Cortana shrieked as the _Dawn_ suddenly lurched forward, dislodging the Master Chief from the steel grating and sending him hurtling towards the already fractured glass. "Grab ahold of something!" the AI shouted, the Spartan grunting in response as he seized ahold of a weapon crate before smashing against the glass, causing it to spider web and finally break. The entire deck depressurized as the window shattered, sucking the Master Chief out into the depths of space and flying towards the planet below.

* * *

**Outside Wall Rose, Titan Territory**

* * *

The Scouting Legion had been riding hard for the past half hour towards the direction in which the orange, sky sundering beam of light had appeared. The terrain was relatively smooth for the most part, made up of grassland with a few sparse groves of pine trees. A few empty hamlets were the only indication that humans had once lived in the area before the Titans moved in. The entire force was spread out in the Long Range Scouting formation, a primitive form of radar relying on flares fired from horseback to alert the rest of the legion if a Titan is spotted. Commander Erwin was hardly surprised when he saw a series of red smoke flares fly up from the left flank, indicating that a Titan had been spotted. Without skipping a beat, he selected a green smoke cartridge, attached it to the end of his flare gun and fired it to the right, signaling the formation to change direction. The entire legion followed his command, shifting to the right and completely bypassing the Titan as they continued onwards towards their goal.

Suddenly, without warning, the sky was once again split by the vibrant orange beam, drawing the gaze of every man and woman in the Legion as they stared in awe. The sky opened, revealing the blackness of night above them once more as the clouds parted. Hanji Zoe trembled with excitement, while Erwin stared on; his face unreadable as a massive ball of fire came screaming through the atmosphere, breaking up into hundreds of smaller pieces as it fell. One such piece fell just a few yards away from the commander and his attendants, shaking the very earth itself. What looked like a mass of glowing, twisted metal sent dirt flying up into the air, accompanied by varying cries of alarm as more bits of falling debris landed throughout the formation.

Chaos ensued as red and black smoke flares arced high into the sky in a jumbled mash up of signals. With the falling debris having scattered the entire formation, the entire Scouting Legion was at risk as the Titan's closed in. A massive, 15 meter class Titan came charging in through the smoke towards the commander, only to be intercepted by Captain Levi, who leapt from his horse and dispatched the mindless horror with his 3D maneuver gear. A nearby rider was snatched from his horse, and had his head bitten off by another Titan before anyone could react, and Hanji Zoe was thrown from her mount as it reared up in terror when another piece of flaming debris fell in front of her. She was soon lost amidst a swirling sea of dust and smoke as the screams of her comrades echoed all around her.

The entire operation was in jeopardy of falling apart at the seams, no one could have predicted that giant flaming chunks of metal would come raining down from the stars to wreak havoc upon the Scouting Legion below. Commander Erwin was desperately trying to rally the rest of the expedition, firing a green smoke flare to the north, signaling everyone to retreat. The order was immediately accompanied by the thundering of hooves as the entire legion fell into full retreat. Oddly enough, the Titans made no move to follow the retreating humans, they seemed more interested in the debris field as they milled about, devouring any survivors left stranded by their horses. Erwin Smith's face showed no hint of regret or remorse as he left the stragglers to their fate, and simply continued onwards with the rest of the legion as they rode hard for the Wall Rose.

* * *

Everything was dark and cold as the Master Chief struggled to pull himself back from black abyss around him, clenching his armored fist tightly. He bit back a groan of pain as he opened his eyes, attempting to sit up, only to find himself pinned beneath a couple of titanium plates. Shift forward, he braced a hand against the metal and shoved them off of him, sending the heavy slabs of scrap metal flying back a good half dozen yards as the Chief quickly got to his feet. The Spartan looked about, still slightly dazed from the trauma induced by his unconventional atmospheric reentry before spotting his MA5C assault rifle on the ground next to him. He immediately scooped it up, checking over the weapon to see if it was still in working condition. To his surprise the rifle's casing was only slightly scorched, and still in perfect working order. The durability of the MA5 series of rifles was legendary amongst the armed forces throughout its long 50 years of service with the UNSC, but surviving atmospheric reentry was something that even the most diehard marines would view as improbable, and would most likely chalk it up to luck.

"Where are we?" The Master Chief asked Cortana as his HUD flickered slightly. "Checking coordinate impact data- _We have asked you to give up your family, your childhood, your future."_ Cortana replied strangely as the Chief's HUD went haywire. John shook his head, confused for a moment before yanking the AI's crystal data chip out of the back of his helmet. She took her human form, flickering wildly for a moment. "Cortana…" the Chief said, looking at her as Cortana shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. It's the crash. I'm fine." She said as her friend continued to stare at her. "Something was wrong even before we left the _Dawn_." He replied as Cortana's form began to distort once more. "Chief, really, I'm fine." She said, her voice cutting out slightly. The Master Chief looked towards the ground. "Cortana…"

Cortana sighed sadly. "I was put into service eight years ago."

"Eight years…"

"AIs deteriorate after seven, Chief."

John looked back at Cortana, as if alarmed. "Halsey." He said, his voice showing a tinge of desperation.

"Chief…"

"We need to find Halsey."

"Chief, please."

"She made you. She can fix you!"

"I won't recover from rampancy, Chief." Cortana said sadly as she gazed into the opaque golden visor that concealed her friend's face. John stood up straight, staring into Cortana's holographic eyes. "If we could just get back to Earth, and find Halsey, she could fix this." He said, his voice filled with clear, unshaken conviction that caused Cortana to falter for a moment.

"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep."

Suddenly the Master Chief's motion tracker lit up as multiple large contacts began to zero in on his location. "Chief, we need to move, now!" Cortana said softly as the Chief nodded in response, heading towards a piece of wreckage from the _Forward Unto Dawn_'s hull. Half a second later, the first contact appeared in the Chief's vision, causing him to raise an eyebrow. A massive, bipedal form barred John's way as it towered over him. At 9 meters, the first image to cross the Chief's mind was that of a giant, but even then it didn't quite match up. The strange, twisted proportions and bulging potbelly of a gut should have made locomotion impossible for such a large creature, but it continued stomping towards the Master Chief, leering at him with its impossibly wide mouth. John took a step back, bringing his assault rifle to bear, training it on the creature's eyes before him. A split second later, it lunged seeking to wrap its finger's around the armored Spartan, only to find its hand closing around nothing but thin air as John leapt away. The Master Chief was no fool, and this clear act of aggression was all the cause he needed to fire off half his MA5C's 32 round magazine, hosing the creature's eyes with a hailstorm of 7.62x51mm FMJ rounds, causing it to clutch at its face in apparent agony where its eyes had once been as the Chief rolled away.

A woman's scream suddenly caught the Chief's attention as he whipped around, only to spot another deformed giant emerging from behind the _Dawn_'s wreckage. A small, human form lay shivering on the ground, back pedaling quickly as the giant bore down upon it, struggling with something at its waist. The Master Chief didn't even blink as he fired off another sustained burst from his MA5C, emptying the rest of the clip into the creature's face. The strange giant roared as it turned its attention to him, allowing the small humanoid it had been after to roll to safety as the Chief charged in, slamming a fresh mag into his rifle. The creature lunged as the first one did, like it actually expected to catch a SPARTAN-II off guard. The Master Chief easily leapt over its oncoming hand, coming down with enough force to break it's wrist as he ran up its arm before launching himself at its face with an M9 fragmentation grenade in his hand. With a grunt, the super solider primed the grenade and slammed his fist into the creature's eye as it roared before leaping to safety. Detonation came half a second later as the creature's head viscerally exploded from within, showering the surrounding area with a rain of bloody skull fragments and brain matter as the Master Chief turned his attention to the humanoid form on the ground a dozen yards away from him.

* * *

Hanji Zoe gulped as the mysterious, green armored Titan turned its gaze towards her, its face an unreadable, opaque mirror of gold. She looked back at her ruined 3DMG, wishing for the hundredth time in the past hour that the technology hadn't been so easy to damage. Armed with only her two, razor sharp blades, she turned to face the oncoming Titan, only to find that it had already covered the distance between them in the three seconds that she had been cursing her luck. The woman took a step back from the towering monster and prepared for the inevitable, mind-numbingly fast attack that was to come. The Titan stopped, lowering the strange firearm it was wielding as it looked her up and down for a moment.

**_"Are you alright?"_**

Zoe blinked rapidly as her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Her swords hung limply at her sides as her arms seemed to turn to jelly. "Wh-what did you just say?" She breathed, hardly daring to believe what had just transpired. The Titan paused for a moment, as if thinking. "Are you alright?" it responded clearly in a deep, gravelly voice. Zoe felt her heart skip a beat as she collapsed onto her knees, beginning to laugh hysterically. "YOU CAN TALK!" She screamed, tears of excitement rolling down the sides of her cheeks as dug through her satchel, producing a leather bound journal and black fountain pen as she leapt to her feet. "What's your name? Where did you come from? Why does your kind eat humans?" She asked, bombarding the Titan in her quest to glean any information she could from this mysterious being. It placed a hand on her shoulder, pushing her away from it slightly, peering down at her. "Mamn, now's not the time to be asking me questions." It said, turning to glance over its shoulder at the Titans that were now stirring and glancing towards them. The green armored Titan seemed surprised that the smaller 7 meter class Titan had already regenerated most of its head as it shuffled towards them, leering menacingly.

"We need to move, now!" The Green Titan said, suddenly snatching Zoe by the wrist and dragging her over towards the wreckage. She fought against its grip for a moment before realizing the futility of her efforts. The being's hold was like that of a steel vice, and it was impossible for the woman to break free. Pausing near a strange looking contraption, the seemingly intelligent Titan released Zoe's wrist and bent over, flipping the machine over onto its black wheels. The researcher marveled at it for a moment before noticing that the Titan had already clambered into it, pressing a button. A hidden engine roared to life, causing Zoe to jump backwards, startled. The Titan nodded at her. "Get in on the other side; we need to make a break for it." It said calmly. Taking the creature's advice, Zoe leapt over the back of the machine and took her place next to the green giant as she clambered into the tailored black leather seat. The entire contraption began to move forward, shooting away from the other Titans as they ambled on in pursuit.

Zoe was dumbstruck at how fast the vehicle could move as it simply ate up the ground before them, going right over fallen trees and small boulders. It outclassed the speed of any horse or Titan that she had ever seen as she watched the terrain race by, almost forgetting that there was a Titan driving the vehicle. Turning to face it, she opened up her journal once again and grinned. "What's your name?" She asked giddily, hoping that the creature would be more compliant now that they had successfully escaped. "That's Classified information" It responded, looking down at her. Zoe bit her lip, chewing on it for a second as she processed that information. "What can I call you then?" She asked, her glasses glinting sharply in the sunlight. The Titan momentarily turned its gaze back towards the front of the vehicle before giving the woman a cursory glance.

**"Call me Master Chief"**


End file.
